Antarctica Cruise Expedition with Buenos Aires

average review

ANTARCTIC PENINSULA, USHUAIA, CAPE HORN AND DRAKE PASSAGE

On this epic adventure, you begin by exploring the historic city of Buenos Aires before boarding a ship for your 10-night Antarctic expedition. Surrounded by gorgeous mountains, you’ll sail out of the Beagle Channel into Drake Passage, spotting wildlife along the way. Stopping throughout the South Shetland Islands next, you can start to explore the Antarctic landscape, take in incredible views of glaciers, and find animals such as seals, penguins, seabirds, and more. As you continue on, the ship will navigate through the many beautiful bays of the Antarctic Peninsula, offering rare landings to discover even more of this dramatic landscape. Finally, pass the famous Cape Horn en route back to Argentina for your last night of this once-in-a-lifetime journey.

Did you know you can make this tour private? Find out about pricing and options for groups of 15 or more travelers.

Itinerary at
a Glance

Tour Itinerary:

  • 1 night in Buenos Aires
  • 10-night Antarctica Cruise
  • 1 night in Buenos Aires

Tour Highlights

  • Buenos Aires City Tour
  • Navigate the Beagle Channel
  • Cross the Drake Passage
  • Traverse Cape Horn
  • South Shetland Islands
  • Explorations by Zodiac (small boat)
  • Get Close to penguins & seals
  • Hear the roar of the glaciers

Your Tour Includes

  • Optional round-trip airfare from Miami (MIA) including taxes, fees & fuel surcharges
  • All intra-South America flights, ground transportation and transfers
  • 2 nights in a deluxe hotel in Buenos Aires
  • Once-in-a-lifetime Antarctic expedition
  • Free WiFi on the ship when available
  • Buenos Aires City Tour
  • Ushuaia Orientation Tour
  • 34 Meals: 12 breakfasts, 10 lunches, and 12 dinners
  • House wine and house beer available at lunch and dinner
  • English-speaking Tour Director throughout
  • Experienced Cruise Expedition Team

What to Expect

Max Group Size: 30 travelers

For more detailed information about this tour and destination, visit our Before You Depart section.

Tour Itinerary

Note that weather conditions may affect the cruise itinerary. The itinerary below is subject to change without prior notice and serves only as a guide of possible sightseeing. During your cruise you can expect regular briefings with updates regarding the route and shore landings.

Map

Click the Day by Day itinerary above (or swipe on mobile devices) to see the experiences that await on each day of your tour.

Day 1: Arrive in Buenos Aires

Day 2: Buenos Aires to Ushuaia

Day 3: Antarctic Cruise: Drake Passage

Day 4: Antarctic Cruise: Drake Passage

Day 5: Antarctic Cruise: South Shetland Islands

Day 6: Antarctic Cruise: South Shetland Islands

Day 7: Antarctic Cruise: Antarctic Peninsula

Day 8: Antarctic Cruise: Antarctic Peninsula

Day 9: Antarctic Cruise: Antarctic Peninsula

Day 10: Antarctic Cruise: Returning

Day 11: Antarctic Cruise: Returning

Day 12: Ushuaia to Buenos Aires

Day 13: Depart Buenos Aires

Guided Tour Pricing

We are working diligently to secure future tour dates and pricing for this itinerary. Please fill out the "Request a Future Date" form linked below, and we will notify you once dates are available.

Optional Tours Customize your trip with these optional tours.

Enhance your trip with our recommended optional tours. Indicated optional tours are available to pre-book when you reserve your trip and can be added to your reservation up to final payment. This is the best option to guarantee your spot on your preferred optional tour! Optional tours require a minimum number of participants. Optional tours are non-refundable unless they do not operate.

Some optional tours can be purchased in-destination and may cost extra. The payment methods and currency information to purchase tours in-destination will be provided on final documentation.

Fiesta Gaucha

Reviews

Cynthia R

Nicolas Patti in Buenos Aires was an amazing Tour Guide. He was with us from start to finish and took care of each of us individually. The Hurtigruten cruise was phenomenal! The ship, the crew, the excursions rocked. You do not need to pack rubber boots, or a waterproof jacket. This is a must do for all serious travelers. There is a higher level of activities than typical: exiting ship, Drake Passage waves, dismounting from Zodiac to land, icy conditions, kayaking. Weather can not be controlled, deal with that idea. Pristine environment. Glad I was in a Hybrid ship.

Cynthia R

Nicolas Patti is Buenos Aires was an amazing Tour Guide. He was with us from start to finish and took care of each of us individually. The Hurtigruten cruise was phenomenal! The ship, the crew, the excursions rocked. You do not need to pack rubber boots, or a waterproof jacket. This is a must do for all serious travelers. There is a higher level of activities than typical: exiting ship, Drake Passage waves, dismounting from Zodiac to land, icy conditions, kayaking. Weather can not be controlled, deal with that idea. Pristine environment. Glad I was in a Hybrid ship.

DH

Everything about our February 2020 Antarctica trip was wonderful. Our guide, Nikolas, was the best of the many guides we've had with Smartours and other tour groups. He was knowledgeable, helpful, provided lots of extras throughout the trip, and was always available and looking out for our group. Consider yourself very lucky if you get to travel with Nikos. We really enjoyed our time in Buenos Aires... a nice hotel, a chance to get over jetlag before the cruise, an interesting city tour, meeting others in our group ,and time to have an orientation of what to expect once on board the ship and a chance to get our many questions answered. The real adventure started when we left BA for Ushuaia then boarded the ship. Hurtigruten does everything right on board - compact but comfortable cabins, great public spaces, a good variety/quality of food, and an amazing group of expedition leaders that do everything possible to provide daily landings and zodiac cruising. Smartours provides a stress free, all inclusive way to enjoy the entire trip - truly a bucket-list expedition that we'll never forget.

Mary L

My husband and I really enjoyed our Smartours trip to Antarctica. Our group was small and our guide, Nicolas Patti was wonderful. We were mostly seniors and Nicolas was patient and attentive to all of us. We had a walking tour of Buenos Aires (our Recoleta hotel area) which helped us to become acclimated to the city. Nicolas gave us suggestions on places to visit on free time, assisted us in the money exchanges and recommended places to eat whether we were looking for small cafe's or restaurants. It was very nice to have our own guide with us flying to and from Ushuaia and also on the ship Midnatsol. Nicolas made himself very available on the ship so we could ask questions regarding our dining, cruising, landing and kayaking. The weather was terrific and allowed us to do all the activities we planned (which doesn't always happen due to the climate). Everything on the ship was better than we expected. We are so thankful that our visit to our 7th continent was awesome. We highly recomment Nicolas.

Alice D

Love those penguins. Cruising behind the icebergs was breath-taking. Walking with penguins and seeing whales and sea lions in their natural habitat was perfect. Weather wasn't as bad as expected. Flight was even comfortable. Great job.

Alice D

Unbelievable beauty. In all my love of travel, I never dreamed I'd be seeing Antarctica - pristine waters, wonderful adventure. Enjoyed seeing thousands of penguins. Photos don't do justice to the serene, breath-takingly beautiful scenery. Great trip for a great price. Hotel accommodations in Buenos Aires are first rate. SmarTours is the only way to travel - great value and great service. This was my 7th trip with SmarTours and 4th this year - wouldn't use anyone else.

Karol S

This was one of the best Smartours I've taken. Our guide, Nicholas was wonderful and took very good care of us. The ship was much better than we expected. Antarctica speaks for itself. The experience is almost indescribable. We had great weather, and everything exceeded our expectations. The only critical feedback I would offer is to provide more information about what to take. You do not need and should not take boots. The ones they provide are wonderful. We definitely overpacked with bulky items that weighed down our suitcases. I took the Tigre Optional tour in Buenos Aires, however, and thought it was terrible. It took us two hours to reach out destination, cruised for one hour, stopped for a short visit to a less than great market, and then took another hour plus to get back. The river was dirty and full of trash. The boat was dirty with broken windows--very unpleasant.

Kenneth

Going to Antarctica was the best trip I have ever taken. Smartours arranged a perfect tour. There is not a single thing that went wrong. Everything about it was excellent ! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it. Great job Smartours !!! - Ken Jackson

Anonymous

Everything went very well on my trip to Antarctica. The ship was and crew were exceptional. Transportation was well arranged. The best was our guide, Nickolas Patti. He did a wonderful job! He was helpful, informative and kind. He took great care of us and made us feel safe and secure. Our group was small and friendly. We had no problems at all. The trip was well organized and I recommend Nickolas highly as a tour guide. We have taken over 10 trips with Smartours and he was the BEST.

Maria

Our trip to Antarctia was wonderful. So glad we went! Our tour guide was always on hand. The landings we made and the Midnastol were perfect. Ship captain kept us safe even during the stormy Drake Crossing. Food was much better than we expected. On the downside we had an awful room even though we paid $2000 extra. Beds need to be replaced. Also Latam Airline had a crazy policy of assigning random seats to couples so that my husband and I were far apart for our overnight trip from Miami to Buenos Aires. (Yes we got strangers to switch with us).
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